Just got done playing A91 The Road To Gora. I really liked this scenario, as it's small enough to play quickly and is one of the few all-infantry scenarios out there. I played as the Russains, with my friend Chris as the Finns.
Russian Advantages: TWO (!) HMGs, some decent (458) squads, concealment,
and entrenchments.
Russian Disadvantages: The VCs are really
tough for ol' mother Russia's patriotic sons, as all the Finns need to win are
3VPs (1 1/2 squads) on a hex row right in the front of their positions.
Finnish Advantages: The usual great 838 and 648 self-rallying squads, DCs,
Nasty flanking Sissi squad.
Finnish Disadvantages: Must cross relatively OG
to get to VC locations.
Russian Setup:
I decided to setup kinda lopsided, with both HMGs on one side of the board in FF5 and DD1 to cover the open ground with fire lanes (especially from DD1 with a FL going all the way across the board.) and most of my squads on the other, covering the woods from mostly interior hexes. I also made sure to cover the northern MG with 2 squads and placed one squad in 34GG4 as a spoiler to keep him out of the woods (or at least slow him down if he came that way). In retrospect, FF4 might work, too. It covers the same FL to the south, still covers the north, and is better able to help in the center. It would be a lot more vunerable to the initial force of Finns, though. I also should have put a squad with a LMG or two in 34BB9 to cover the south edge with a FL. Anyhow, my main mission is to keep the incoming 648s out of the way and as long as I can dominate the woods around 36FF7 (and thus cover the OG to the south of it), I feel I have a good chance of doing so.
Finnish Setup:
Chris took the southern option and placed his squads all forward between 36FF0 and 36FF4, 36EE3 and 36EE3. By this, he took advantage of the setup rules to avoid having to cross any OG to get to the woods.
How the Battle Was Fought:
I won't go over all the details (some are just too unpleasant to recall), but in general things went well for the Russians until turn 3 when it all came loose. The Finns, having committed themselves, tried to force a way into the woods on the southern flank. This is where a squad with a LMG or two in BB9 would have saved the day by denying the OG along the southern edge to the Finns trying to flank into the woods. Once the Finns established a foothold, the defense just plain disintegrated. It seemed that I could pass any 2MC or 3MC that came by, but I would miss (by ELR, of course) any and all NMC/1MCs! Coupled with some bad rally attempts, the Russians quickly ended up with more broken than GO squads. The spoiler squad Placed in 34GG4 worked rather well, actually. His presence forced the Finns to slow a bit and send someone out to get 'im, which proved costly at the price of a 648 squad killed by fire and CC. It was about the only shining moment for them, as the mass of 838s pushing through the forest would pave the way to winning the game.
Conclusions:
A fun one, with some tough VC for the Russians. Time is definitely against them in this one. The Russian object must be to delay/destroy the oncoming 648s, while surviving the 838s. A strong presence in the northern woods might work, but as the Finns set up last, this may prove costly. My only real complaint about it is that all the action takes place along the board juncture. This becomes a real pain when you realise that every Finn squad has an extra counter to carry (skis). More than once it looked like these towers would topple! Still, I thought this was a good scenario and recommend it for all to play!
Jim Rinkenberger